MOZAMBIQUE
to participate in a ruling Frelimo Party meeting for which he was
invited in 2006.
It is imperative that the media practitioners do everything in their
power to be able to resist the never ending manipulation from politicians. Such manipulation is possibly stronger within the country’s
capital than in the various provinces. Eventually, those that are involved in manipulation certainly think that there is a tense climate
in the country.
With the exception of Maputo, where there are still those that do
NOT report about RENAMO, for instance, for fear of being linked to
the political opposition. The fear intensifies to an extent as one is
further away from the country’s capital. That is exemplified clearly
by what is happening with the community radios. As an example,
only after one year was elapsed, it was learned that the seven million “Meticais” (N.T.: Meticals – being 1 Metical the Mozambique
currency unit) allocated to the districts were being misused. This
was because the community radio reporters said nothing about it
due to the fear that is prevalent outside Maputo.
There is intense political intimidation away from the country’s capital, many times resulting in revenge and retaliation. That raises fear
among the people including journalists. In such situation, people
prefer not to expose themselves to risks, as one should protect his/
her own physical integrity. Situations of misuse or abuse of power in
areas away from Maputo should be promptly denounced to avoid the
wide spreading of unlawful and illicit actions. For instance in 2006,
a prosecutor ordered the illegal detention of three journalists in Barué, in the Manica Province. However, as soon as MISA-Mozambique
denounced the occurrence the journalists were released and the
Public Prosecutor (Procurador-Geral da República – PGR) brought a
disciplinary action against the said Prosecutor.
Individual scores: 			

3; 5; 3; 3; 2; 3; 2; 2; 4; 2

Average score: 			

2.9

African Media Barometer - Mozambique 2007			

3

Select target paragraph3